Central Scotland Police are cracking down on motorists who hang objects such as rosary beads, crosses or other religious objects from their rear view mirrors. Citing a law banning the placement of "anything" on the windshield in front of the driver, two truckers were put off the road after being stopped at Craigforth Weighbridge on October 26 because of what officials described only as "pendants."

"If anything is in this area it will obscure the driver's vision and we will target anyone committing this offense," police Inspector Graeme Allan said in a statement. "Common sense tells you that if you have anything on your windscreen you will not be able to see clearly and that is extremely dangerous."

The law does not apply to the disc that all UK motorists must affix to their windshield to prove that they have paid vehicle taxes nor to any other official stickers issued by government agencies.

The police crackdown does extend to pulling over vehicles that use window tinting. Under UK law, driver and passenger side front window tinting must allow at least 70 percent of light to get through -- a standard that effectively bans all but the lightest of tints. Police have used this relatively new standard to issue prohibition notices.

"We understand the attraction of modifying cars but they need to be done sensibly and within the law," Allan said.

Some motorists cited for such violations have tinting that had been legally installed before revisions to the tinting law took effect in 2004.